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Montreal Canadiens will select fifth overall in the 2023 NHL Draft

The NHL just concluded the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, and the Montreal Canadiens have held steady at their initial place. They will make the fifth selection of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Montreal had the best odds last year, landing one of their four-number combinations to take the top spot. They selected Juraj Slafkovský with the pick, who played 39 games in 2022-23, contributing 10 points in his rookie season.

The Canadiens now know the position of nine of their 11 picks for the 2023 draft. They are still waiting to see how the Stanley Cup Playoffs unfold to solidify their final two.

Montreal holds the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick. It will be for 17th overall if the Panthers don’t advance to the third round, but with them leading the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 in the Atlantic Division Final, they seem likely to advance, making that pick no better than 29th overall.

There’s also a fourth-round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights that will be determined by that team’s playoff finish as well. They are set to play Game 3 of their series versus the Edmonton Oilers this evening.

Pick numbers will be added as they become known to the draft section of our regularly updated organizational depth chart, which has now been updated to off-season mode with free-agency status.

Montreal Canadiens Organizational Depth Chart
Where do the Habs have depth? Where are they thin? All the info is right here.

Full draft lottery results


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Pick Team Odds of winning lottery Odds of claiming 1st overall pick
1 Chicago Blackhawks* 11.5% 11.5%
2 Anaheim Ducks** 18.5% 25.5%
3 Columbus Blue Jackets 13.5% 13.5%
4 San Jose Sharks 9.5% 9.5%
5 Montreal Canadiens 8.5% 8.5%
6 Arizona Coyotes 7.5% 7.5%
7 Philadelphia Flyers 6.5% 6.5%
8 Washington Capitals 6.0% 6.0%
9 Detroit Red Wings 5.0% 5.0%
10 St. Louis Blues 3.5% 3.5%
11 Vancouver Canucks 3.0% 3.0%
12 Arizona Coyotes (via OTT) 2.5% 0.0%
13 Buffalo Sabres 2.0% 0.0%
14 Pittsburgh Penguins 1.5% 0.0%
15 Nashville Predators 0.5% 0.0%
16 Calgary Flames 0.5% 0.0%

* Chicago won 1st Draft Lottery, moving up two spots
** Anaheim won the 2nd Draft Lottery, with the best overall odds

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